Melbourne is always rated one of the most liveable cities in the world, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit. It’s famous for turning coffee brewing into an art form, famous for its vibrant street art, its diverse night life and its love of every sport.
But it appears something has gone wrong in the world-famous Garden City. Demographer Andrew Howe, of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, said 26,000 people moved out of Melbourne in 2020, which is the city’s highest loss of population on record.
Mr Howe blames the exodus on the two severe lockdowns enforced on the city by its Premier Dan Andrews after outbreaks of COVID-19. Victoria suffered a second strict lockdown which lasted almost four months before it was lifted on 26 October last year.
“The substantially different trends we’re seeing for Melbourne — it’s implying that there is a pandemic impact with internal migration patterns,” Mr Howe told ABC.
“In 2019, migration in and out of Melbourne was basically zero and in 2018 more people moved into Melbourne than moved out.
“So, to have a 26,000 net loss over 2020, that’s the highest net loss for Melbourne on record.”
Queensland, known as the Sunshine State, was the most popular choice for migration with its highest number of arrivals in more than a decade.
“Queensland has always attracted more people than it’s lost in terms of internal migration, however, 2020 was certainly higher than the norm,” said Mr Howe.
